CONSTITUTION-MAKING IN THE CONTEMPORARY MUSLIM WORLD: A POST COLONIAL INQUIRY

Although the constitution is not a novel phenomenon for Muslims, the modern concepts of constitutionalism emerged in the Muslim world in the mid-twentieth century. The first written constitution in modern times in the Muslim world was adopted by the Ottoman Empire in 1876, reflecting the Belgian constitution in 1831. Despite the recognition of Islam as the official state religion, the early Muslim constitutions did not pay much emphasis on Islamic constitutionalism. Hence, this paper explores the extent of Islamic influence in constitution-making in the contemporary Muslim world. The second phase of modern constitutional development happened in the early twentieth century, and the last phase of constitutional development took place in the post-colonial era in the mid-twentieth century. This research employed doctrinal research methodology through the analysis of older and modern constitutions of the contemporary Muslim world. The application of Islamic Sharia in modern constitution-making was highly debated, and only a few modern nation states have adopted fully Islamized constitutions, while most countries inserted just a nominal recognition of Islam as the state religion in their constitutions. The influence of contemporary Muslim scholars and Islamic political organizations are highly valued during the constitution-making process in many countries.